Labelling machines are used to apply labels to bottles.
A dispensing apparatus for labelling machines and also a labelling machine are already known from the German laid-open specification 1 761 837 by the Applicant. Said document proposes a configuration which can be used both to wrap metal foil around bottle necks and to apply labels to bottles. According to German laid-open specification 1 761 837, the labels are removed individually from a magazine by means of a glue-covered cylinder and are transferred by means of grippers to a labelling cylinder before being applied to the bottle.
Such apparatuses, in which the labels are removed individually from a magazine and are transported to the bottle, are very complicated since the labels must be handled individually during the entire transport path from the magazine to the bottle.
By contrast, this disadvantage is avoided by labelling machines known to the Applicant in which the labels are applied to a carrier belt carrying a plurality of labels.
In such configurations, the carrier belt is moved—e.g. continuously—to a location at which a label or labels are to be dispensed in the direction of a bottle or in the direction of the bottles. There, the carrier belt is sharply deflected by means of a so-called dispensing edge, so that the respective label adhering to the carrier belt detaches from the carrier belt at the dispensing edge and can be applied individually to the bottle. In the labelling machines known to the Applicant in which the labels are moved in the direction of the bottles using a carrier belt which carries a plurality of labels, the so-called dispensing edge is typically oriented vertically, so that it runs essentially in the direction of the axis of upright bottles running past. This makes it possible for the labels to be detached from the carrier belt in a manner oriented so that they can easily be applied to a respective essentially cylindrical bottle middle, in such a way that they run with their longitudinal extension direction in the circumferential direction of the bottle middle. This has proven advantageous to date.
However, the application of the labels in the aforementioned configuration is more difficult if labels are to be applied to bottle necks which taper upwards. In order to counteract these difficulties, the labelling machine for dispensing labels that are to be applied to the bottle neck is currently brought—at least according to the internal knowledge of the Applicant—into a tilted position relative to the bottles moving past. This improves the feeding of the labels towards the bottles that are to be provided with a label in the region of their bottle neck, but is also complicated.
The known configuration is possible only with parallel carrier belt guidance. Furthermore, in the case of packages with fancy decorations, an expensive special stand is required. For this, use is made of a special stand with up to six adjustable axes. The ergonomics are in this case sometimes very poor, and operation is possible only with the stand. In some cases, no automatic gluing is even possible.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a flexible but nevertheless fairly uncomplicated possibility for labelling bottles.